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By Bonifacio Taban Kuich
July 20, 2011 (BENTIU) - The newly independent government of South Sudan reached a peace deal on Monday with rebel Gatluak Gai in Unity state. The final agreement came in Pakur payam [district] of Koch County, with the rebel leader being made a Lt. General the Southern military (SPLA).
- A member of a branch of the SPLA plays a trombone (Getty)
Unity State government has been engaging in peace talks with Gai for the last six weeks. Gai defected from the SPLA and rebelled against South Sudan’s government after the announcement of election results in April last year.
Gai, is believed to have hoped to become a county commissioner - a position appointed by state governors - if independent candidate Angelina Teny beat the incumbent Taban Deng Gai to the gubernatorial seat in Bentiu.
After it was declared the Teny, the wife of South Sudan vice president Riek Machar, had lost Gai began a localised rebellion against the SPLA and the South Sudan government.
Salva Kiir the president of South Sudan took the opportunity on July 9, when the country became independent as part of a 2005 North-South peace deal, to repeat his offer of an amnesty to all rebel groups in Africa’s 54th country.
On Wednesday the state minister of information and communication Gideon Gatpan Thoar told Sudan Tribune that Gatluak Gai has accepted the amnesty and was ready to join the SPLA.
Thoar said that the SPLA and Gai has agreed the following five points:
1. Gatluak Gai will declare himself and his entire armed forces as part of the South Sudan system and will be abide by the South Sudan’s constitutions and laws.
2. Gai will cease all types of hostility against South Sudan’s government, people and properties including cattle rustling.
3. Gai will not promote or recruit to his armed groups.
4. Gai will produce a list of all the members of his forces.
5. Gai is willing to be move anywhere in South Sudan as instructed by SPLA headquarters.
The peace process was facilitated by both state delegates and representatives from the SPLA’s headquarters in Juba.
Gai’s delegation was led by the group’s chairman Hernery Makany Dhiue. The SPLA were represented by the Southern military’s deputy of operations Lt. General Ping Deng Kuol. Chief Kong Kuol Kualang was present on behalf of Unity state’s elders committee.
As part of the deal, Gatluak Gai will be integrated into the South Sudan army as a Lt. General, a considerable promotion. It is unclear whether his previous position was as a member of the prison services or a colonel in South Sudan’s police or wildlife protection services.
Thoar also said that Gai had given assurances that his group would not be involved in cattle raiding a common problem in the new nation. Unity State’s spokesperson also said that Gai is ready to move wherever he is directed by the SPLA.
A report submitted by seven committee members from SPLA and community elders indicated that Gai has fully accepted the peace agreement. The deputy governor of Unity State William Dawut Riek congratulated the special delegates for the negotiating the peace deal.
Gatluak Gai, who has been operating in the West of Unity State, has been accused of having links with Peter Gatdet a much more high profile defector from the SPLA. However Gai has denied he formed an alliance with Gadet who has attempted to base his attempt to overthrow the Southern government in Mayom county of Unity State.
The commissioner of Mayom county was recently sacked after he alleged the the SPLA had killed civilians and burned down thousands of homes when the Southern army attacked Gadet’s forces ahead of South Sudan’s independence.
Mayom county is strategically important due its proximity to the Heglig oil field and the new contested international border with North Sudan. The SPLA consistently accuse Khartoum of backing rebels in South Sudan but the allegations are denied by the North.
(ST)
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